Americans Abroad: Wednesday Rewind

The time is now for Kenny Cooper if he wants to get Bob Bradley's attention for 2010. With two friendlies on the horizon in November, steady play from the tall forward would likely earn up at least a spot when the rosters are announced next month.

With 1860 Munich facing Bundesliga 1 club Schalke 04 at home in the DFB-Pokal, Cooper was in the starting lineup once again. Having scored once already in the competition in September, finding the back of the net would not only improve his side's chances of upsetting Schalke, but also garner more attention from Bradley.

Unfortunately, Cooper and Munich were unable to get on the scoresheet as Schalke bounced 1860 from the Cup. Cooper played 56 minutes, before getting pulled as part of a double substitution.

Cooper was one of a handful of Americans in action in Europe on Wednesday. Here is a rundown of how they did:

DFB Pokal

Luis Robles dressed but did not play in Kaiserslautern's 3-0 loss against Werder Bremen.

David Yeldell started, played 90 minutes and made three saves in TUS Koblenz's 4-0 loss vs. TSG Hoffenheim.

Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04's 3-0 win vs. 1860 Munich. He is recovering from an injury.

Why Grella? Since when does a fringe player who gets garbage minutes for a league 1 team deserve to play for the Nats? Pretty much if you arent starting for League 1 or get at least 25+ minutes a game then they shouldnt get a camp invitation.

Haha, come on now Ives! You had me hooked with the Kenny Cooper picture and the huge build up, and then you let me down like a ton a bricks. The way you opened that, you’d think Cooper have scored a hat trick.

Bringing in Grella and Wittman would be counter productive to their professional progress. Their clubs would not look kindly on missing time for meaningless friendlies. Remember Freddy was benched by Benefica after playing in Olympic qualifiers.

It would be good to see some of the Americans playing in Scandinavia like Bedoya and Marcus Tracy get a look come January

Bedoya is a fan favorite from what I hear. I doubt his club would want him to leave either.

While Pittman, its Pittman people not Wittman, is Wycombe’s top scorer I would love to see him called in. This is literally all he wants is to be capped by the USA. Wycombe could survive without him for a game or two. They will most likely bring someone else in in January. Beaven is out after groin surgery, Zebroski is normally a winger, and Harrold has sucked this season. Pittman is their main man! He’s the one who gets things done. They need to bring in someone who can match is level.

Who is this Alejandro Bedoya kid? He isn’t in the MNT pool to the best of my knowledge, he plays on the left, and starts regularly for a Swedish club. Bradley is obviously aware of him, but I feel he could stand to drop another player to allow a look at Bedoya.

BTW ESPN360 finally struck a deal with Comcast as I watched 5 games simultaneously today.

This link has highlights from Bedoya’s game today. Apparently, he has been getting decent minutes lately. I know its the Swedish league still, but look what that league did for Davieslink to watchsocceronline.blogspot.com

Wayne Rooney, for example, is of average size (5’10”) but is excellent in the air. There are may other average statured players (Hugo Sanchez for one)who excel aerially. Excellent timing and the ability to judge the flight of the ball are the primary ingredients necessary to be good in the air. Just being tall isn’t enough. Crouch is pretty average in the air and is actually quite similar to Cooper in that he is very good on the ball. Cooper does use his size, not necessarily to head balls but to shield them. I’m 5’9″ and I’ve played against long,tall guys like Cooper (though they obviously were not as good) and it is very difficult to get to the ball through all those arms and legs. It is especially difficult if they are as good on the ball as Cooper is. Big guys like him also tend to have long arms and sharp elbows. It buys him a second or two to get off a shot.

Research Cooper’s goals per game rate and it is very good. I don’t care how he scores just that he does.

I am not interested in him scoring in MLS or against concacaf minnows in the gold cup.

Ignoring his size, he is a very good MLS striker. He scored a bunch of goals in the league and was dangerous taking guys on on the flank.

My issue is that his skills and speed on their own arent nearly good enough for him to threaten for a starting spot with the Nats. When he has come on late against real opponents in matches we needed goals, he floated out wide. Again, if that is the style he is going to play, Id rather have Rolfe. Another guy who is very good in MLS, but not quite good enough for the full team.

If Cooper is ever going to be an option against good competition its not going to be because he has quick feet, it will be because he has size and decent feet. As Ching and Casey, Bradley isnt looking for much. Just someone that will make themselves available to midfielders when they are in trouble. And guys who will cause havoc and create half chances for the players around them.

Casey isnt exceptional in the air like a McBride or even Twellman, but he also isnt afraid to throw himself in the mix. He didnt score the first one agaisnt Honduras because of great timing or skill, but because he didnt give a damn and threw himself at the keeper.

In the Honduras game Casey did a better job than the goalkeeper of anticipating where the ball was and positioning himself to get there first. Since the ball bounced in off of Casey’s neck/shoulder/back, it wasn’t the greatest job but it was better than the goal keeper’s and good enough to get the job done. He didn’t just “throw himself at the keeper” in somehopeful/courageous attempt. The goalkeeper either had a bad day is is just bad.